A Brighton-born English teacher has told how he and his Ukrainian family, forced to flee their Kyiv home by war, are getting ready to fly to the UK at the weekend.
Dan Baker had lived in the capital with his Ukrainian wife Victoria, 34, and 12-year-old stepdaughter Veronica, for more than five years.
The 41-year-old had initially vowed to stay put despite bitter fighting in the outer suburbs and the nightly wail of air raid sirens, but decided it was time to leave that after hearing claims Russian soldiers were “raping” women in occupied areas.
After 10 days they fled westwards in their car, joining millions of others desperate to avoid Russian bombs, which had already begun to fall on the capital.
The family, together with cat Pumpkin, had all been staying in the school they run, in the basement of a brick building.
On the road heading west, the family had two near misses with Russian bombs on the way to Lviv, including evading a Russian cruise missile strike on Vinnytsia.
After 16 days – and nearly 500 miles – negotiating queues of vehicles waiting for petrol, food and water, they crossed into Poland, arriving in Krakow shortly afterwards.
Now, 22 days after the first air raid sirens on February 26, they are booked onto a flight back to the UK at the weekend, and will be staying with Mr Baker’s family in his native Brighton.
However, Pumpkin the cat – who has become a star of the family’s daily updates on YouTube – will have to stay behind, because of two-week travel quarantine requirements.
Mr Baker said: “Since fleeing the warzone and western Ukraine there have been a lot more positives than negatives.”
He described swapping the nerves and anxiety of travel across Ukraine for the peaceful Polish city of Krakow.
“It’s a beautiful city, we’ve had beautiful weather, we’ve been busy networking,” he said.
“Veronica has started selling her artwork. Yesterday, she made about £200. It’s crazy, it’s more than I get paid.”
He added the family had used the last of their savings and were now crowdfunding their living and travel expense.
“We used the last of our money to pay for the last five nights of accommodation so we’ve started a crowdfunder, to keep the wolf from the door.”
The family avoided having to apply for visas during the conflict as they were already booked to come to England for Mr Baker’s brother’s wedding, in April.
Asked what the long-term plan was on his return to the UK, Mr Baker said: “We’ll play it by ear.”
Gridlock of the roads in Ukraine as thousands flee heavy fighting (Dan Baker/PA)
He added: “I expect in those two weeks after we arrive in England, we will have that time to think about the future.
“We haven’t really had that time, I’ve been thinking instinctively, rather than analytically.”
“Yesterday I told my parents and brothers I had booked my flight, and they were very happy and all of them said ‘we’ll come and pick you up from the airport’.
“I said ‘I’ve got my family from Kyiv to here, you can’t take the last 20 miles from me’.
“It would be like someone else chucking the Ring in the fires of Mordor, after Frodo carried it all that way.
“So we’re going to get a bus, from the airport to Brighton.”
Meanwhile, the family is saying a temporary farewell to Pumpkin, who is off to stay in her quarantine accommodation on Thursday.
“They say cats have nine lives,” he said. “I think we’ve used about eight of ours on this journey,” he said.
